1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a printing machine, and in particular, to an image forming apparatus including a toner supply device which is configured to supply powder such as toner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is a toner cartridge which discharges toner by rotating a container which contains toner. For example, there is known that a magnetic sensor is provided to control a rotation number based on a detected remaining toner amount (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-092753). On the other hand, the toner discharge characteristics of a toner cartridge are measured in advance in order to reduce costs involved in a sensor (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-166578). In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-166578, based on the measurement results of toner discharge characteristics, an operation time and a rotation number are controlled such that a constant amount of toner is discharged.
However, in the conventional toner cartridge driving control, there is a case where replenishment control capable of sufficiently satisfying a higher level of requirement is impossible.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide toner cartridge replenishment control which can satisfy a higher level of requirement.